


The Second Star to the Right (Is A Volleyball)

by silentlypunk



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, NOT tokyo disney sea, Takes place in 2013, Tokyo Disneyland, general humour, guess the merch characters lol, i lov slimey snake man and his gorgeous gf, kuroshou frenemy broship 5ever, mild (?) manga spoilers i think, offthecourtzine, vague on disney details bc trademarks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:28:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27171775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silentlypunk/pseuds/silentlypunk
Summary: “I told you to stay out of my day,” Suguru hisses from a stall over. He tries to pat dry his wet jeans with toilet paper, but the ride was fiercer than he anticipated. It was kind of a lost cause.Kuroo is glaring at him when he swings the cubicle door open. “Same to you, asshat. And go dry your jeans with the hand dryer, you look like you peed buckets over yourself.”
Relationships: Daishou Suguru/Yamaka Mika
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25
Collections: Off The Court zine fics





	The Second Star to the Right (Is A Volleyball)

**Author's Note:**

> might be worth pulling up a map of tokyo disneyland for full immersion. in any case, please enjoy!

**-Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow-**

Suguru was having a nice day until Mika had to go to the bathroom.

Well. As much as a day he could have had within the last three hours of waking up. 

He’d been having a nice  _ expectation  _ of his day. That was a fair statement. They’d planned this date for months, having said they would do it at graduation, then being bombarded with part-time jobs and university and now it was finally summer and they had arrived at the land of corporate excitement, where children shrieked and played to their hearts’ content. Where the queues were long and the expenses heavy. The happiest place on earth. Where dreams come true.

Mika is currently in the ladies’ room. Suguru is perusing the technicolour map, distracted by the  _ zwoom _ _!  _ of space-themed rides and the beeping of moving, blue-and-silver, robot trash cans. Apart from the wailing of a child who has dropped their galaxy slushy, Suguru is also furiously trying to block out one godforsaken voice.

“Snake! Smarmy one with the hair! I know you can  _ hear  _ me, Daishou—!”

_ Studying this map,  _ Suguru tells himself, fuming.  _ Waiting for Mika. Very interesting map. No need to look up. Ever. _

Unfortunately, the oversized feet of godforsaken-voice’s owner appear, and he sticks his smug face and disgusting bedhead on top of his map.

Suguru resists the urge to punch him and whacks Kuroo with his map instead.

He recognises Nekoma’s setter, padding tiredly after his captain’s footsteps. (Ex-captain.) The captain himself rises to full height and grimaces at him. “What, is your hearing going already? At nineteen?”

“Leave me alone,” Suguru snarls. “Get out of here. Don’t ruin my date.”

“Hahhh?! I should be the one telling you to get out, you slimy piece of—”

Suguru’s eyes go wide. “STOP RIGHT THERE!”

Kuroo takes a step back, in shock.

Suguru jerks his head in the general direction around them. “ _ Children _ , Kuroo. What are you, a savage?”

Kuroo hesitates. “You...motherfriendly...piece of. Uh. Dehydrated, sodium-chloridated cell.”

The setter coughs out a barely-concealed laugh. “You can say  _ salt _ , Kuro.”

“Whatever! Just—”

They glare at each other, accusatory fingers pointed with a scowl.

And they yell.

“ _ DON’T LET ME SEE YOU AGAIN IN THE NEXT TWELVE HOURS! _ ”

  
  


**-Toons on the telly, off to Town-**

“I don’t think they have any snake character merchandise,” Mika says, picking up a large dinosaur head. “Try this one! Reptiles. Same thing.”

“I don’t think they have any snake  _ characters _ ,” Suguru replies, looking in the toy dinosaur’s lifeless fabric eyes. “Why am I trying this again?”

“So I can take a picture.”

Suguru pulls on the dinosaur head, obediently popping his face through the hole. Mika is already pointing her phone at him. “Smile!”

He sticks his tongue out like some dead thing, and she laughs. 

The shops were attractions in themselves. This one, in particular, with its cartoon apparel. They were at a shelf with the more wacky bits of headgear, like that headband with a duck’s butt on top, tufty tail and dangling yellow feet included. Mika pulls out a pair of mouse ears with a giant sorcerer’s hat on it. “Try this one, Suguru!”

Suguru winces out of sheer embarrassment. “That is one tall hat.”

“You’ve always said you wanted to be taller, now’s your chance.”

“I’m gonna look like a cartoon character.”

Mika smiles, insistently pushing the accessory into his hands. “Isn’t that the point?”

Who was he to complain? What power did he have to complain, when his girlfriend was enjoying his reluctance? Who was he to even  _ refuse _ ?

Resigned to the fact that he’ll be getting a LOT of mocking texts from his friends, Suguru puts on the hat, and—what the hell, why not—grabs a ribboned magic wand while he’s at it, twirling it like he would a pencil.

“Bibbidee bobbidee boo,” he says, completely deadpan, and Mika nearly drops her phone with delight.

“Don’t move! Keep twirling that thing, I’m gonna take a video. Dang, that hat really is tall...”

Before Suguru can say  _ stop, there’s someone behind you _ , Mika has already backed up and bumped into a taller guy, who starts and looks down, stepping away quickly.

“Sorry,” the guy says, with half-lidded blue eyes. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

Suguru watches as Mika’s eyes dart from the guy’s face to the bunny ears crowning his dark curls and his heart sinks, because,  _ great. That one’s next. I don’t like bunnies... _

“Oh, neither was I, I’m sorry,” Mika stutters, her phone still steadily pointed in Suguru’s direction. 

The guy blinks at her, all slow and pretty. “No, please don’t apologise, I should have noticed...”

Suguru is  _ one  _ step away from being over-protective ( _ why, oh why, did handsome guys always get the best shots _ ) when a significantly louder, chippier voice calls out somewhere behind the bunny-eared guy, shattering the tension into a million pieces.

“C’mon, ‘Kaaaashiiiii, what are you waiting for! Take the pic!”

Of course. He should have checked his lucky index today. Of  _ course. _

“You’re going to break the headband, Bokuto-san.”

One of the new and ranking members of Japan’s U19 national men’s volleyball team pokes his head out from behind the pretty guy, broad shoulders and curious golden eyes, and all the high school enemies that he had pushed out of his brain instantly re-enter in one big rush.

“Fukurodani,” Suguru hisses. 

Bokuto Koutarou  _ points _ at him. While wearing  _ fluffy pink mouse ears.  _ The audacity.

“I know you!” he shouts. “You’re Kuroo’s friend! From the prelims! Er...”

“Nohebi,” the bunny-eared guy (who Suguru now recognises as their setter) snaps his fingers. “Clever plays, good defense.”

“Yeah! Them! I mean—you!”

Suguru isn’t sure if the description was sarcastic or not—this guy does not look like he has emotions, is he ok?—so he just mutters a quiet “thanks”, and grabs Mika’s hand. “Let’s get out of here.” 

“Are you on a date?” Bokuto inquires, complete innocence and goodwill.

“That’s rude,” ‘Kaaaashiiiii chides. Mika slides her hand into the crook of Suguru’s elbow and smiles, ever polite.

“Have fun,” Bokuto says, mildly subdued. He brightens up after about half a second, suitably distracted by merchandise. “Akaashi! Look! You can have those fluffy blue ones, let’s match!”

Akaashi nods a polite farewell ( _ oh yeah, wasn’t this guy a year below? _ ), then turns back to Bokuto, phone camera still pointed his way. Only now does Suguru notice that it had been recording the whole time. “You should wear that one with the big lacy bow, Bokuto-san. You’ll look like a bride.”

“Nooo...”

“Let’s go get some snacks,” Mika whispers, stifling a giggle at the sight of the pretty-faced underclassman persuading a Japan’s Top Five wing spiker into fitting wedding-themed mouse ears over his head. Suguru nods, and they sidle out of the shop with one last narrowed glance at the ace.

They stand in line behind a girl who is inhaling hotdogs (she’s holding three?? Three???) and an olive-haired guy who’s muttering warnings under his breath, things like  _ you’re gonna get a stomachache  _ and  _ don’t complain when you start feeling weird  _ and  _ Shirofuku, you’re scaring the children  _ and—

“You’re Nohebi’s captain,” the girl suddenly says, peering at him with sleepy eyes. The guy starts and turns around and, yeah, Suguru recognises  _ him _ , too. “You came out of the shop? Did you run into Bokuto?”

“The tall guy with crazy hair?” Mika asks, and the girl nods. “Yes.”

The guy sighs. “Whatever he said, we’re sorry.”

“Oh,” Mika says, taken aback. “It’s alright, he seemed — harmless.”

Hotdog girl looks at her appreciatively. “That’s very nice of you.”

Suguru snaps to attention. “I’m not friends with Kuroo,” he tells the guy firmly.

The guy shrugs. “Neither am I.”

They get to the stall. Hotdog girl buys a smoothie, a corndog, a large bucket of chocolate popcorn, and two churros.

“Bokuto owes me money,” she explains cheerfully, when they look at her in a horrified sort of way. They being the olive-haired guy, Suguru, Mika, and the cashier. “It’s okay, I’m walking around lots today, so this much is the bare minimum, really.”

As they watch the two walk away with her purchases, Suguru thanks the heavens that he didn’t go to Fukurodani, because, sure, they came in second in Interhigh, but he doesn’t think he can handle THIS level of weirdness. 

Mika buys a churro. To share. They walk away in the opposite direction. 

  
  
  


**-playing with Fantasy-**

Things are pastel, glittery, and romantic. Particularly the last one, Suguru likes. They laugh at the singing dolls in the small world ride. They get lunch in the banquet hall and snag a cute corner table. They kiss on the carousel as Once Upon A Dream plays in the background.

_ This _ . This is what Suguru had envisioned for their date today. All of this, two of them. Perfect.

He almost forgets about the morning’s run-ins, drowning in sticky bliss, biting his lips to keep from grinning like an idiot.

It’s when he’s got one arm around her on a flying baby elephant that he sees... _ them _ . Small pudding head, spiky rooster—Suguru immediately directs Mika’s attention to the sky, how blue it was, how beautiful this was, how cute she looked with the breeze mussing her long hair...

When he looks again, they’re gone.

Suguru throws a coin into the wishing fountain and prays, with all his heart, that he never sees them again. Which is a bit of a wish waste, but—priorities. 

He takes Mika’s hand again as they walk off, and pushes the grating unease out of his mind.

  
  


**-Country of crispy Critters-**

About fifteen minutes later, Suguru is mourning the loss of his coin.

“Any twos in the queue?” the staff member shouts, loading up a boat of four. “Any twos, come forward!”

“Two!” Suguru yells, pulling Mika out of the line immediately. The staff member waves them forward, gesturing for them to get into the —

“Actually, I think we’ll wait,” Suguru says weakly, but Mika is giving him a look and the staff member is giving him a  _ look _ , so Suguru climbs into the boat and plonks himself onto the seat.

And refuses to look behind him.

“Hope you all have a splash!” the staff guy says, and pushes whatever magical button it is that makes the boat start moving. 

Kuroo kicks the back of his seat. Suguru twists backward—straining a little against the safety belt—and pinches him.

“Hello!” Mika waves at them. “I’m Yamaka Mika!”

The setter peers warily at Kuroo, then at Suguru, then ducks his head before muttering, “Kozume. Kenma.”

Suguru tips his head back and lets out a long, wretched groan. It fades into the broadcasted wildlife ambience around them.

-

The ride photo is acceptable.

Mika looks beautiful, as always, her lush hair flying back on the drop. Suguru is clinging to her, which is mildly embarrassing, but they’re both yelling and she’s leaning into his side and it’s very cute, and frankly he’s a little bit relieved that this photo wasn’t being shared with complete strangers.

Kuroo looks bad, though. Everyone’s hair is flying back, but his is the most obvious, revealing a never-before-seen expanse of forehead and a normal-looking right eye, teeth bared in a grimace. Kenma’s eyes are squeezed shut like a disgruntled cat. Kuroo has a death grip on his arm, and it must’ve not been great, because out of the corner of his eye Suguru can currently see Kenma rubbing his forearm as if it’s gone sore.

Mika had greeted Kuroo cordially as he desperately tried to flatten his windy mess of wet hair, courteous and friendly as always. Kuroo had said hi back while looking like a beggar. Mika had kindly held back her laughter.

And of course, she’s Mika, so she came prepared. She shucks off her raincoat, brings out a towel for her hair and waves, heading to the counter to purchase that photo. (Suguru can already feel a love-hate thing for it.) The boys head into the men’s room, soaked from the gigantic splash, and slam themselves into cubicles to change into fresh things.

“I told you to stay out of my day,” Suguru hisses from a stall over. He tries to pat dry his wet jeans with toilet paper, but the ride was fiercer than he anticipated. It was kind of a lost cause. 

Kuroo is glaring at him when he swings the cubicle door open. “Same to you, asshat. And go dry your jeans with the hand dryer, you look like you peed buckets over yourself.”

“So do you,” Suguru jeers, and stops. “Wh—”

“ _ Kenma _ . Are you...trying to blowdry? Your hair??”

A bleached mop looks up reproachfully, though his windbreaker had kept his body dry. “I don’t like feeling wet...”

Kuroo sighs. “Alright then, bow your head...”

Watching him ruffle the smaller boy’s hair with exasperated tutting as the hand dryer whirs, Suguru is forcibly reminded that cats groom each other as a bonding activity.

He backs out of the restroom, grabs Mika’s hand, and runs to the next area like a sasquatch, because his jeans are still wet and the hand dryer had been otherwise occupied.

  
  


**-wild Western ways-**

“He seemed like a cool guy,” Mika says as they queue for the Thunder Mountain coaster. “Are you sure you’re not friends? I feel like you are, kind of. You got similarities.”

Suguru tucks hair behind her ear and puts on a hurt expression. “I don’t know which pains me more, the fact that you think he’s cool or the fact that you think we’re similar...”

“Oh stop it, you overdramatic baby.” She grabs his wrist, playful and all-knowing. “We’ve graduated high school! Leave the past behind, be the bigger man.”

Suguru half-complains, half-whines about how cruel Mika is being about his whole rivalry situation until he gets to scream out his frustrations on the coaster, Mika laughing the whole time. It’s worth the embarrassment just to hear.

  
  


**-into the jungle for an Adventure-**

A pudding-headed boy in a baggy red t-shirt stands next to a snack wagon, holding a cup of juice.

Mika is looking around, deliberating between the Friendly Blue Alien Experience or the Treehouse Tour (less about the attractions and more about whether or not it was worth the queueing for the air-conditioning), so Suguru decides to ignore him because it wasn’t any of his business. He doesn’t look  _ too  _ lost. It’s fine.

Except it’s apparently not, because the next thing he knows Kenma is gently poking him in the arm.

The setter looks about as pleased with the situation as Suguru is. “Sorry,” he mumbles. “Have you...seen Kuro?”

Mika looks around, concerned. “No...”

Kenma looks at his juice as if it would show him Kuroo’s whereabouts. It does not. “I thought I heard him, but...”

Well.

It’s not too hard to piece together what happened.

The snack wagon is next to a merchandise shop with strong air-conditioning. Kenma is holding a cup of juice. He was probably waiting in the shop (because air-con) while Kuroo went to buy snacks for the juice (from the wagon) and something went horribly wrong in that transit, because now he’s interrupting Suguru’s date (again).

“He’ll come back soon enough,” Suguru tells him. “And there’s no way you’ll miss that hair, even in a crowd full of colourful headbands.”

His forehead crinkles. “That’s what I thought, but it’s been ten minutes.”

Mika is looking more and more concerned. Suguru is tired. “Where’s your phone?”

“He confiscated it...”

Suguru. would like. to leave.

No one leaves their friends behind. At least Kuroo definitely wouldn’t. And he’s no idiot—contrary to popular (Suguru’s) belief—so he’d know to double back. Give him another five minutes and he’d probably show up crying.

But the look in Mika’s eyes is severe, and he’s not looking to hear about how much of a jerk he is.

“I’ll...call him,” Suguru relents. 

Mika’s expression shifts to mild approval, then she turns to Kenma, who is a bit taller than her but looks like a cornered cat. “Let’s go wait in the air-con, okay?”

_ There’s no promising if he picks up or not, though,  _ Suguru doesn’t say as they loiter in the shop entrance.

It takes literally half a ring.

“If you’re around Adventureland right now look for Ke— my setter, now, this is an order,” Kuroo rattles off. A tiger roars somewhere in the background. Suguru isn’t sure whose background it is.

“I—”

“Razz me later! Find Kenma or I’ll—”

“ _ Listen, _ ” Suguru grits, annoyed by how frantic he sounds. “I already did, okay? Asshole. We’re in the shop next to that stupid wagon.”

A beat, then a click. 

Less than a minute later, a titan comes charging through groups of small humans who barely reach his crotch. 

“Kenma!” Kuroo calls, huffing and puffing as disgruntled parents pull their children out of his path. “Kenma—”

To his credit, he doesn’t knock anyone over. Kenma is quiet, but he steps forward and pushes his face into Kuroo’s shoulder, one hand pulling at his sweaty t-shirt. 

“Oh,” Kuroo gasps. He’s holding a bucket of fried chicken, wrapping his free arm around his setter’s thin shoulders. “I’m so sorry, we should’ve stuck together—”

“You,” Kenma interrupts reproachfully, still buried in his shoulder, “should give me back my phone.”

Kuroo winces. “Right. I shouldn’t have done that either. Kenma, are you alright, here have some chicken, it’s the one you wanted—”

While Kuroo fusses over his lost friend, Mika sidles up to Suguru. “Good job.”

“I only made a stupid phone call.” Suguru looks dismissively down at himself. “You somehow saved that guy from a panic attack, so...you’re the one who did a good job, Mika-chan.”

“We just talked about RPG.” They look at Kenma, who is tucking his phone back into his pockets. “I remembered that there was a game keychain hanging from his phone, and my cousin was part of that developing team, so...coincidence helped.”

Suguru takes a good look, and so there was, a little pixel purple dragon holding a sword. 

“I’m impressed you noticed that...Anyway, come on, let’s—”

Kuroo clears his throat, reluctantly. “Daishou.”

_ Ah, fuck. _

“What,” Suguru says. He’s so tired. “Leave me alone already.”

A mutter, then a sigh. “Thank you,” Kuroo mumbles. “For. Um. Calling me.”

“No big.” Just a stupid phone call. “But you owe me one.”

“Yamaka-san,” Kenma speaks up, causing Mika to look curiously at him. There’s a sort of excited tension in his voice that Kuroo looks surprised at. “Could we...talk more?”

Mika blinks at him. “About my cousin?”

Kenma nods, staring at the ground.

Kuroo looks at him, then at Mika, then adds, “Please?”

She looks delighted by the attention. Suguru is growing more panicked by the second. “Our date,” he hisses under his breath, still clutching her hand. “Can’t you talk on the phone? Text?”

With a withering glance, Suguru immediately knows that the day is no longer salvageable. “My sister can bring us back here for another date at any old time,” she says cheerfully. “I’d love to talk!”

-

There’s a gleam in Kenma’s eyes that is way too excited as Mika rambles to him about her cousin and his top-secret involvements in one of Capcom’s specialty teams. Their drinks sit in front of them, untouched.

Staring each other down from across the table, Kuroo and Suguru give themselves brain freeze, sucking resentfully on their straws.

“Why’s my girlfriend getting on with your setter,” Suguru mumbles, chewing on the soft plastic with vigour. “This makes no sense.”

Kuroo spoons a cube of ice into his mouth and crunches it with his mouth open, what a  _ savage _ . “Sadistic tendencies?”

He might not be wrong.

“Anyway,” Kuroo continues, still crunching on his ice, “It’s really rare for Kenma to be engaging with someone else for so long with so much interest. Your girlfriend must be some kind of extrovert wizard.”

Engaging wasn’t a problem. Mika had always been a social flower, and it was something Suguru had admired her for — she was a great communicator when it came to words. And he was all for Mika getting to know volleyball people, but he would have preferred it to be HIS volleyball people. Not his prime rival’s top setter.

“Sorry it’s interrupted your date,” Kuroo adds, subdued.

Not that they were prime rivals any more, anyway.

But like...they hadn’t stopped talking since they began. They’d taken the Jungle Cruise. Barely even noticed when Kuroo got a stern look from the attendant as he and Suguru pretended (tried) to push each other out of the boat. Mika gave him a warning look,  _ behave,  _ and Kenma had eyed them reproachfully for disturbing their conversation. Suguru was kinda impressed, since he looked the type to just keep quiet when it came to age hierarchies. (Not that those were worth shit.)

“What were you gonna do if I hadn’t found him?” Suguru asks, just out of curiosity.

“I was at the customer help centre begging them to let me do a lost child announcement,” Kuroo admits under his breath. “Pretty sure half the staff pegged me down as a kidnapper.”

Suguru lifts his eyebrows, unsurprised.

“Maybe it’s the hair.”

“Okay, just because your hair goes all fancy and gelled doesn’t mean you have  _ rights— _ ”

“Kuroo-san,” Mika interrupts, all of a sudden, “Kenma-kun finished all nine releases while keeping up his grades  _ and  _ playing national level volleyball?? Is this true?!”

Kenma looks away, nibbling on a chocolate flake. Kuroo puts a hand on his head, looking like a proud parent. “ _ And  _ he makes coin on the side streaming his games. It’s the little obsessions that keeps us going, huh?”

Mika shakes her head, amazed. “To think that I broke up with Suguru because I thought he was too obsessed with volleyball...”

A pang of hurt flashes through Suguru’s chest. Kuroo definitely notices. “Mika-chan...is this really worth bringing up now?”

But Mika isn’t listening any more, talking enthusiastically with Kenma again about streaming.

Kuroo has the decency to laugh behind his hand.

Suguru scowls at him and starts eating Kuroo’s slice of cake, just because. Their forks make tinny noises as they battle over crumbs.

  
  
  


**-the World’s antiquities, in one Bazaar-**

He had planned— _ planned.  _ There was a sweetheart cafe. The online reviews were great. Perfect for dates. Tucked away in the corner of the bazaar, a little corner of love.

He shoots a longing glance at it as they pass by, reluctantly saving it for a future date.

Then he glares daggers at the side of Kuroo’s ugly head.

“—So I was telling my teammates, I said  _ watch out for Daishou, he’s no common yank _ , and they agreed and said he probably had bad manners. Which he’s proving right now, since he’s glaring at me like he wants me dead.”

“All you want in life is to make me look bad,” Suguru accuses. Mika laughs.

“If it weren’t true, you’d have nothing to fear,” Kuroo retorts, grinning from ear to ear. Kenma is happily immersed in his game, ban long since lifted. Suguru reaches over Mika’s head and flicks the smug bastard’s face. “Ow!”

With a giggle, Mika squeezes his arm where she’s tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. “Don’t worry, Kuroo-san,” she says. “I knew he was an asshole before I dated him. It’s part of the fun.”

“Sadist~,” Kuroo sings, under his breath.

Suguru ignores him, patting Mika’s hand. “Well, this asshole is gonna buy you a present,” he declares. “Let’s go look at the stalls.”

-

She couldn’t choose between the rose-gold jasmine flowers and the metallic sapphire genie lamps. 

“I like the flowers, but this shade of blue is great,” Mika laments, holding the two to her ears in turns. “What do you think, Suguru?”

“The lamp is more special, I guess,” Suguru replies, hesitant. He never knows what to say about fashion unless he’s roasting it. 

Kuroo peers into the mirror, then silently holds up another pair. Silver flowers, crystal slippers, sparkly blue teardrops. 

Mika’s eyes go wide. “Ooh.”

“It’s blue and got flowers,” Kuroo shrugs. “That help?”

“Mika-chan, wait,” Suguru snatches another pair off the shelf. “One’s rose-gold and the other’s blue, with uh...tinkly? Silver leaves. Anyway, this one’s better.”

“Oh, the two sides are different! That’s cool.” Mika holds up the pairs, then nods, having made a decision. “Thank you, Kuroo-san, but I’m gonna have to choose this.”

“Yeah, I doubt he’d buy anything I chose anyway,” Kuroo grins.

Suguru belatedly realises that he hasn’t looked at the price. 

(It was expensive, but—it’s fine. Her smile is worth more than money.)

-

Suguru walks out of the shop with a fluffy dalmatian cap, complete with black ears. Mika had chosen it in return for the earrings. 

“Dang, I want a fluffy accessory too,” Kuroo had said, when they were paying. “Kenma, want a souvenir? Something to show your ma?”

Kenma was looking at a pair of mint cat ears with a little green beret. Kuroo didn’t even think twice.

“You didn’t have to buy that,” Kenma says reproachfully, as they follow out behind him. “They already say you spoil me...”

“No one spoiled  _ me _ , so let me spoil  _ you, _ ” Kuroo returns. “Your parents are gonna love it.”

“One day I’ll be rich and you won’t be able to stop me.” It almost sounds like a threat, Kenma sounds so certain. Kuroo splutters himself into silence. Suguru absolutely does not laugh at him.

Then Kuroo fake pukes when Suguru gives Mika a bite off his spoon at dinner, and Suguru nearly pushes his face into the soup.

  
  
  


**-at the Castle’s waterfront-**

There is a LOUD yell, and suddenly Kuroo is on the ground, wrestling for his life.

“Sorry,” three voices say in unison, as Kuroo is smothered into the grass with alarming screeches. Kenma blinks, nonplussed. Mika has grabbed Suguru by instinct. Other visitors swerve away from them in a wide circle; staff members stare, one hesitantly raising a walkie-talkie to their mouth. Hot dog girl ambles over to gratify the security concerns, while the guy with olive hair yanks Bokuto to his feet and, after ample struggle, manages to drag them apart, a vein popping in his temple. Suguru genuinely feels bad for him.

“KUROO!!!” Bokuto hollers, as if he hadn’t just tackled the guy. Kuroo, though smiling back, looks visibly shaken. “I can’t believe you’re here too! Hi, Kenma! Hi again, Daishou and Daishou’s girlfriend!”

There’s a fluffy orange and black-striped tail swinging beside his face, attached to fluffy orange ears. 

Suguru cannot. stop. staring. 

The headband clashes  _ horribly  _ with his white hair, the black streaks, his big gold eyes. It clashes even more with the  _ bubblegum pink  _ shirt he’s now wearing. Bokuto is an Andy Warhol piece, a blinding neon sign, a walking pop art installation. Suguru isn’t quite sure how on earth those lemon yellow chinos have survived the day without getting dirty (yet). 

The Fukurodani setter — the handsome guy, who is now wearing white cat ears with a pink ribbon attached — steps forward, fixes the stripey headband, which had gone askew with the tackle. 

“Oh, I’m Bokuto,” Bokuto says, like an afterthought. “Hi.”

“Yamaka Mika, nice to meet you again,” Mika says cheerfully, still gripping Suguru’s shirt. “Tokyo prelim meet up today, huh?”

“Apparently,” the olive-haired guy says. He nods at Kenma and Kuroo, and the latter nods back respectfully. “Hey, cats.”

“Hey, Konoha.”

Konoha points at Suguru all of a sudden. “He said he wasn’t friends with you.”

Kuroo shrugs. “Sure.”

Hot dog girl pulls out a drumstick, seemingly out of thin air. She smiles. “Shirofuku Yukie, nice to meet you. Had a rough day with these two, Yamaka-san?”

Mika steps out from behind Suguru, smiling at the other girl. “Kenma-kun’s been my saving grace.”

Shirofuku looks sympathetic. “I can imagine.”

The girls step aside to chat. Kuroo is pulling teasingly on that fluffy striped tail, ragging Bokuto on the childishness of making his friends wear headbands (not that he was in any position to talk), while Kenma and the other setter (was it Akaashi? Did Bokuto call him Akaashi earlier in the day? Maybe that was his name) are engaged in what looks like a mildly hostile encounter.

Suguru clears his throat. Loudly.

“We should—get places. For the fireworks,” he says, awkward, as everyone stops to stare at him. He jerks his thumb towards the end of the castle garden. “And we should stay in the back. Height issues.”

No one speaks for a couple hot seconds, then Kuroo steps forward. “Yeah. Wouldn’t want to block the view for crying children.”

Maybe-Akaashi nods. “Agreed.”

“Also agreed,” Konoha says. “Plus, doesn’t help when the tallest two have the biggest hair, yeah?”

Both Kuroo and Bokuto whirl around to face him, hands pressed protectively to their hair. “ _ Hey. _ ”

Konoha shrugs, biting back a smirk, and the rest fall behind him as he wanders towards the back of the garden.

Suguru lets out a tired breath, which he immediately sucks back in when Mika squeezes his hand. “Good call, Suguru.”

He shrugs. “Kids too small.”

“Considerate.” Mika beams, her new earrings tinkling as they sway with the wind. “Sweet of you.”

Suguru blushes way too violently, thankful that no one else is looking.

  
  


**-Fireworks-**

It is while Konoha’s headband is being toyed with, three little alien eyes being poked in turns, that the first fireworks fly upwards and explode as a cheerful marching piece plays over the broadcast system.

Around them, everyone is looking up. Colours light up the dark sky reflecting on its audience’s faces. Children clap and cheer, waving plastic swords and plush toys. 

Suguru’s hand comes to rest on Mika’s waist, her head resting on his shoulder.

Ethically, he knows full well how bad fireworks are, both financially and environmentally. Right now, he can’t care less. The upbeat music fades into something softer, more orchestral, something wistful and full of hope. 

“Bet I can make a gold one explode,” Bokuto says. His stripey tiger tail knocks against a dainty pink ribbon. “Watch this, Akaashi!”

“I’m watching, Bokuto-san.”

A white rocket whistles its lone way up the sky, rising higher and higher, then—

“BANG,” Bokuto yells. A golden crackle explodes above the highest turret.

Akaashi puffs out a soft laugh. Kuroo rolls his eyes. “I’ll do the same for you,” he tells Kenma, eyeing another set of smaller rockets as they zoom up, and—

“BANG,” Kuroo yells. Crimson dahlias surround the castle before fading away. The smaller boy leans into his side.

Then Kuroo turns to look at Suguru.

And suddenly, six pairs of eyes are looking at Suguru.

With expectancy.

“I’m not doing it,” Suguru says. Sparkles rain down from the sky as people cheer. “I’m not.”

Bokuto blinks at him, owlish eyes reflecting the bright lights. “Not for your girlfriend?”

A nudge, and Suguru looks down to see Mika gazing wide-eyed at him.

With  _ expectancy. _

“Do it,” she whispers, and damn, Bokuto is a lot more devious than Suguru thought.

Reluctantly, he looks up and scans the night sky, looking for something he wants to make explode. A darker streak shoots up one side, then—

“BANG!” Suguru yells, and emerald crosettes spiral their way across the length of the waterfront.

Everyone cheers. Shirofuku waves her popsicle, Kuroo doffs him on the head, Konoha shakes his head and laughs. Mika presses closer to him and kisses him on the cheek.

The cheering turns into wolf-whistling. Suguru struggles to swallow his grin, unable to hide the bright flush of his cheeks. Kuroo is laughing, half-hyena, half-genial.

“Will somebody think of the children,” Akaashi intones. Bokuto throws his arm around his shoulder and whistles right into his ear.

The rest of the fireworks pass by in a roaring delight.

  
  


**-on the train, back to Reality-**

“I’m broke,” Bokuto whines. “Yukippe’s shirt broke me.”

“That’s not fair.” Shirofuku in her new shirt, soft pink with a pig’s face on it. An empty popcorn bucket hangs around her neck. “You owed me money from before.”

A rumble comes from Bokuto’s stomach, and he looks up with desperation. “Akaashi! Treat me to ramen!”

“You also owe me money, Bokuto-san.”

“Konoha—”

Konoha laughs in his face. “I’m not making that mistake again!”

“Yuk—AKAASHI PLEASE, I’LL TREAT YOU BACK, YOU KNOW I WILL...”

“...Fine...”

With a judgemental click of his tongue, Konoha remarks, “He’s got too much power on you, Akaashi,” to which Akaashi replies, “It’s less annoying to give in,” which in turn induces an indignant squawk from Bokuto.

As the Fukurodani group squabbles, Suguru rummages in his bag and thrusts something towards Kuroo.

The bastard just kinda stares at him, confused. “Huh?”

“Kenma said you were eyeing this, and you’d look disgusting with these colours,” Suguru mumbles. The fluffy Cheshire tail sways with the movement of the train. “It’s payback. When you stuck up for my team. After prelims.”

Maybe for once, Kuroo is speechless, running his fingers over the soft purple ears.

It’s awkward and overly sincere and Suguru is impatient, so he just jams it onto Kuroo’s head when he doesn’t move to take it. “I’m being the bigger man here, throw me a stick or something.”

Kuroo laughs a little. The look on his face is indescribable. “Thanks, Daishou.”

“Don’t get all mushy on me.”

Kuroo holds out his hand.

_ Friends?  _ it asks. 

Suguru bites back a sigh, and takes it.

_ Friends. _

“Oh! Kuroo! We match!”

And with that, the moment is gone, Suguru pulling his cap down to hide his face. Mika beams as Bokuto waves his own fluffy tiger tail, whacking it against Kuroo’s pink-striped tail. 

Under his cap, Suguru smiles to himself.

_ The train is now returning to Tokyo Station, _ the broadcast says.  _ We hope you’ve had a magical day. _

  
  
  
  
  


  
  


**Author's Note:**

> this was my piece for offthecourt zine!! my first ever zine!! it was so much fun, i went way over the word count (soz mods if ur reading this) and i hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as i did writing it. feel free to leave kudos/opinions if u like and my twitter is [here](https://twitter.com/silentlypunk_?s=20) should u wish to follow my creating/fandom endeavors :) hope everyone is hanging on in this time of worldfuckery!


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